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divineblkpearl's Reviews (732)
"‘Wakako Zake’ is the Perfect Manga for Foodies and Slice of Life Lovers"
Our strange and endearing main character Wakako Murasaki is 26 years old. She loves to eat, in fact, she lives to eat.
We are told that she was born with a taste for alcohol and good food, and so every night she searches for a good place to enjoy her meals alone. This is how the manga starts off with Wakako out for salt grilled salmon with cold Japanese sake in her own little world and someone else notices just how much she’s enjoying her meal and how well she eats. Before you feel sorry for her, she does have a life of her own: a career, family, friends–yet her adventures of going out to find great grub and drinks are solo dolo, and that’s just the way she likes it.
The art is mostly simplified which adds to the comedic effect of Wakako’s expressions when she’s satisfied or irritated which leads to some amusing situations in the panels. I need a montage of the close ups of her going “PSHEWWHHHHHHH” at the end of each meal sitting, happily full and content. The simplified art angle works just fine, because the true attention to detail is focused when the food appears on the page.
I absolutely adore the attention to detail regarding not just what ingredients go into certain dishes, because that itself is a core piece of each dish and each chapter. There is also attention to how some foods are prepared and the circumstances on how you should eat them. Every now and then our main character gets a mini flashback from her past, a glimpse of her with a dish she’s set out to eat and helps bring context to her actions and craving now.
From being very small and wanting to devour her yaki-tori, her chicken skewers, all at once in an attempt to savor more than one flavor, not one at a time–to overhearing some younger adults talk about how they can prepare their own seared mackerel at home because they went out and bought a gas torch (Wakako failed on a epic level her first try and even broke a plate!), the love that Wakako has for her food is so over the top enjoyable.
Wakako Zake is the manga that I’d suggest to my fellow lovers of food and drink that has that slice of life feel.
See my more in depth review here: http://blacknerdproblems.com/wakako-zake-is-the-perfect-manga-for-foodies-and-slice-of-life-lovers/
Our strange and endearing main character Wakako Murasaki is 26 years old. She loves to eat, in fact, she lives to eat.
We are told that she was born with a taste for alcohol and good food, and so every night she searches for a good place to enjoy her meals alone. This is how the manga starts off with Wakako out for salt grilled salmon with cold Japanese sake in her own little world and someone else notices just how much she’s enjoying her meal and how well she eats. Before you feel sorry for her, she does have a life of her own: a career, family, friends–yet her adventures of going out to find great grub and drinks are solo dolo, and that’s just the way she likes it.
The art is mostly simplified which adds to the comedic effect of Wakako’s expressions when she’s satisfied or irritated which leads to some amusing situations in the panels. I need a montage of the close ups of her going “PSHEWWHHHHHHH” at the end of each meal sitting, happily full and content. The simplified art angle works just fine, because the true attention to detail is focused when the food appears on the page.
I absolutely adore the attention to detail regarding not just what ingredients go into certain dishes, because that itself is a core piece of each dish and each chapter. There is also attention to how some foods are prepared and the circumstances on how you should eat them. Every now and then our main character gets a mini flashback from her past, a glimpse of her with a dish she’s set out to eat and helps bring context to her actions and craving now.
From being very small and wanting to devour her yaki-tori, her chicken skewers, all at once in an attempt to savor more than one flavor, not one at a time–to overhearing some younger adults talk about how they can prepare their own seared mackerel at home because they went out and bought a gas torch (Wakako failed on a epic level her first try and even broke a plate!), the love that Wakako has for her food is so over the top enjoyable.
Wakako Zake is the manga that I’d suggest to my fellow lovers of food and drink that has that slice of life feel.
See my more in depth review here: http://blacknerdproblems.com/wakako-zake-is-the-perfect-manga-for-foodies-and-slice-of-life-lovers/
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I was surprised how fast I read through this book written in prose detailing a winter of a preteen girl on the Kansas frontier. A book with A Little House on the Prairie influence obviously with short chapters for the eight through twelve age group, this one was a page turner specially when our young protagonist finds herself alone, abandoned and unprepared for winter. •
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I don’t wanna spoil it but the educators will pick up a very common Learning disability in the book and it may prove to be a teachable moment for students.
I was surprised how fast I read through this book written in prose detailing a winter of a preteen girl on the Kansas frontier. A book with A Little House on the Prairie influence obviously with short chapters for the eight through twelve age group, this one was a page turner specially when our young protagonist finds herself alone, abandoned and unprepared for winter. •
•
•
I don’t wanna spoil it but the educators will pick up a very common Learning disability in the book and it may prove to be a teachable moment for students.
The most endearing element of Sanity and Tallulah’s adventures that I’ve enjoyed from them before their big book debut is that these girls always save the day and I’m glad to report that very theme has transitioned over from the zine format to graphic novel format without losing any of that awesome message–not that I had any doubt!
Best Friends, Mad Science
The girls remain curious, bright inquiring minds that are growing up in a place that’s unfamiliar to most of us: a space station yet they are soaking up everything they observe, learn and happen to uncover while exploring. Granted, Sanity is the more reserved, more level-headed out of the two while Tallulah is the more spontaneous, happy go lucky type the two best friends compliment each other well and together they are the dream team that wins our hearts over by the end of the book. It is so important to see girls centered in narratives that involve S.T.E.M. minded activities and circumstances. It is so important to see girls centered in narratives located in space located in the science fiction genre which may very well have been started by a woman, a teen girl at that but hasn’t always been kind to women.
And I can’t stress how important it is to see girls of color centered in diverse narratives that present them as important! This book features our dear Sanity Jones who is Black and her BFF Tallulah Vega-Davisson who is biracial with a Latinx mother and a white father. I was so stoked to see the girls’ world expanded to include some of their families which make up a superb support cast with Sanity’s father Darren a station director and Tallulah’s mother, Soledad in a similarly high ranking position. I’d be remiss to make note of Tallulah’s super chill dad Hank who has a leg prosthesis.
Read more of my review here: http://blacknerdproblems.com/sanity-tallulah-brings-us-best-friends-and-mad-science-in-space/
Best Friends, Mad Science
The girls remain curious, bright inquiring minds that are growing up in a place that’s unfamiliar to most of us: a space station yet they are soaking up everything they observe, learn and happen to uncover while exploring. Granted, Sanity is the more reserved, more level-headed out of the two while Tallulah is the more spontaneous, happy go lucky type the two best friends compliment each other well and together they are the dream team that wins our hearts over by the end of the book. It is so important to see girls centered in narratives that involve S.T.E.M. minded activities and circumstances. It is so important to see girls centered in narratives located in space located in the science fiction genre which may very well have been started by a woman, a teen girl at that but hasn’t always been kind to women.
And I can’t stress how important it is to see girls of color centered in diverse narratives that present them as important! This book features our dear Sanity Jones who is Black and her BFF Tallulah Vega-Davisson who is biracial with a Latinx mother and a white father. I was so stoked to see the girls’ world expanded to include some of their families which make up a superb support cast with Sanity’s father Darren a station director and Tallulah’s mother, Soledad in a similarly high ranking position. I’d be remiss to make note of Tallulah’s super chill dad Hank who has a leg prosthesis.
Read more of my review here: http://blacknerdproblems.com/sanity-tallulah-brings-us-best-friends-and-mad-science-in-space/
An absolute surprise hit that took me by surprise: operating in the slice of life genre (correct me if I'm wrong) My Neighbor Seki is a hilarious and heartfelt manga offering of spontaneous fun and being young. I went to read five more volumes after reading this one!